


when the sun (or year) goes down

by Crazymuggleinthestruggle



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Ariadne and Yusuf are just done™, Asexual Character, Asexual Eames, Coffee Shops, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:33:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24305194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crazymuggleinthestruggle/pseuds/Crazymuggleinthestruggle
Summary: Athur meets Eames in a coffee shop and Eames is always in front of him in line for the coffee shop with a ridiculous order that takes forever to make
Relationships: Arthur/Eames (Inception)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 39





	when the sun (or year) goes down

**Author's Note:**

> I got the prompt from [here](https://uncertainglobalfuture.tumblr.com/post/116026430530/yes-coffee-shop-spy-aus-are-totally-cute-but)
> 
> The title is from a Christina Koch song because it was 3am and that was the smartest thing I could think of
> 
> Thanks to @talloreo for the beta work!

It all started when the world's best café opened up in front of Arthur's office. The first time Arthur had stumbled into the shop was in search of a cup of coffee that _didn't_ resemble sewer water and taste even worse.

On one hand, he had found the best cup of coffee in the history of coffee. His first sip had been so good that he was actually convinced that Yusuf had laced his brews with some sort of a drug. When he had voiced his concern to Ariadne, Yusuf's co - barista, she had smiled at him in a mildly terrifying manner and had sauntered away to produce more drug-laced beverages.   
On the other hand, since Arthur's life had always been the most convincing example of Murphy's law, he had also bumped into the man standing in front of him while in the queue. Which would have been fine, if not for the fact that he spilled the man's coffee all over the floor. However, since Arthur was a true gentleman, he had apologised profusely while paying for another cup of his previous order. Through his efforts, he learnt the man's name- Eames- and also the fact that he had a very attractive accent that complimented his even more attractive build and that he had the world's most fucking elaborate and time consuming order. That day, when he reached his office 15 minutes late, he thought he would never see Eames or his tremendously long order ever again. 

Boy, was he mistaken   
***

"Darling! I am _HURT_. You didn't even wish me a Good Morning!"   
The look of hurt on Eames' face was perfect. However, Arthur had been dealing with his dramatics for the past six months now. 

Somewhere down the line, Eames standing in front of him, waiting for his coffee, had become a constant in Arthur's life. It didn't matter how early Arthur came to the café. Eames always beat him to it. After the fiasco on the first day of their brief introduction, Eames had begun acknowledging Arthur's presence with ridiculous one liners.   
The most memorable one had been when Eames had realised that Arthur always changed his order, he had turned to him with comically wide eyes, one hand on his chest while the other pointed accusingly at Arthur, only to hoarsely shout, "You don't order the same coffee every day!" His entire demeanor had been so ridiculous that Arthur had been clutching at the stitches on his side's even before he realised it. 

Today, however, he deemed it appropriate to reply with a "Is it though?", as dryly as he could manage.   
"Arthur, dear, how you wound me"   
"You're in front of me, nothing new there, waiting for your order that has a longer production time than the production time for _all of Wyoming's orders,_ complaining about the fact that I didn't wish you a Good Morning. I feel like if anyone here should be complaining, it should be me, Mr. Eames."   
"Oh, petal, go on, then, complain away" 

Nonplussed, the only comeback Arthur could think of was, "No. No, no, no. We are _not_ doing petal. I am putting my foot down"   
And that hadn't even been a proper comeback! Jesus! Trust Eames to make Arthur use his brain for constructive purposes before his first sip of coffee.

Luckily, Eames' _half calf double cupped- no sleeves, salted caramel mocha latte with 2 pumps of vanilla, 2 pumps of classic, 2 pumps of hazelnut substitute, 2 pumps of white chocolate mocha, 2 pumps of hazelnut for toffee nut, half whole milk with a splash of almond milk, soy milk and coconut milk, mocha powder and half breve with no whipped cream, extra java chips, foam, extra caramel drizzle, extra salt, a scoop of vanilla bean powder with light ice, well stirred, plus a whole banana and dash of cinnamon_ was finally ready. 

(The first time Ariadne had seen Arthur lip sync the entire order, she had looked pretty gleeful) 

Why someone would spend $20 on their coffee on a daily basis was beyond Arthur. Glaring at Eames' back which was quite unfairly muscled, Arthur thought the only reason Yusuf and Ariadne must like Eames despite his 10 year's worth of an order must be because of his stupidly attractive accent. Arthur walked up to pick his $6 cortado order and made his way to his office.   
*** 

Over the past 9 months, Arthur had gained quite some intel on Eames. He was a graphic designer for a corporate company, situated a block away from Arthur's office. He liked painting with watercolors more than graphic designing. To indulge in this hobby, he made water- color portraits in his free time. Arthur thought he was excellent at what he did. He was very much single and liked to flirt with Arthur. Although, whenever Arthur flirted back, he got all flustered and changed the topic or simply walked away.   
Yusuf and Ariadne had a bet going on as to when they'd finally get their heads out of their asses and get together. Arthur only knew this because around a month ago, Ariadne had approached him to inform him that he was supposed to get together with Eames before the year ended or she'd lose the bet and if that happened, he would regret ever being born. Arthur was very much afraid of what Eames liked to call Ariadne's 'natasha romanoff style brevity' and so was trying his level best to help Ariadne win. 

Three weeks later, when he and Eames received the invite to the Christmas celebrations taking place at the café, Arthur was more nervous than surprised.  
***

The day arrived in a flash. At 6pm on 24th of December, Arthur found himself standing outside an obnoxiously decorated café holding three meticulously wrapped gifts. One each for Ariadne, Yusuf and Eames. He was going to gift Eames with two tickets to 'All I Want for Christmas is Attention' that was being performed at The Montalban on 29th. 

Gift exchange time came by entirely too soon for Arthur's liking, but he dutifully agreed to a drunk Yusuf's wishes.   
Yusuf was very appreciative of the 6-Cup Moka Stovetop Espresso Maker. Even Ariadne loved the Zaha Hadid Table Centrepiece that Arthur had painstakingly chosen for her. Eventually, it was Eames' turn, who opened his gift devastatingly slowly and upon seeing Arthur's gift, ran out of the café with a hasty "Merry Christmas" and "see you". Arthur stared at his retreating back with a mix of helplessness and despair. 

About a moment later, he was thrown out of the café with Ariadne who standing too close to him and shouting, "Chase him, you incompetent genius!". Yusuf was rolling his eyes so hard, they were close to disappearing into the back of his skull.

Arthur caught up with Eames, panting and wheezing. With no self dignity to hold on to, he decided to not beat about the bush and jump straight in.   
"I really thought you liked me", even though he had wanted it to come out with a little bit of bite in it, it came out more like a broken whisper. So, when Eames looked at him with pity in his eyes, Arthur was, yet again, not surprised. 

"Oh, darling, I do. I adore you so very much. But, I'm afraid that I won't be the best for you." 

"Huh and here I thought I'm the most suited to judge what's best for me? Also, I never thought you'd be so self deprecating" 

"Don't worry, I'm really not self deprecating. I'm just asexual." 

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't get the memo that proclaimed asexuality a synonym for self depreciation" 

"Arthur, it's _not_ self depreciation. You're standing here and telling a strapping young bloke like you ,who could have his choice off the smeat market would be alright with not having sex for as long he'd be dating me? Or even do anything that includes the term sex in it?"

"I'm not- What- So-! _What the everloving fuck is smeat?!_ And yes! You're not listening to me! I don't care that I won't be having sex. I would be with you, wouldn't I? The fact that you're trying to decide what's best for me and what's not is making me want to hit you in the face, but, also kiss you. And you're driving me fucking bonkers!" 

"Smeat is sex market condensed to make one word." and with a pause, "You wanna kiss me?" 

"Yes, is that okay?" 

And if Arthur had a huge smile on his face when Eames said yes, well, then what?   
***

A week later, when Ariadne would give Arthur Eames' order as a gift for helping her win $500, he would finally understand why some people spend $20 on their coffee on a daily basis.

**Author's Note:**

> So, asexuality is a spectrum. Everyone's understanding of it ranges wildly. This only includes some of what _I_ feel. Everything that y'all feel is vaid and I love all of you :)
> 
> You can yell about things with me on my tumblr [arthur-eamesdumbassery!](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/arthureames-dumbassery)


End file.
